Thy ways, O Lord! with wise design

1 Thy ways, O Lord, with wise design
Are framed upon Thy throne above,
And every dark or bending line
Meets in the centre of Thy love.

2 With feeble light and half obscure,
Poor mortals Thine arrangements view;
Not knowing that they least are sure,
And the mysterious just and true.

3 Thy flock, Thine own peculiar care,
Though now they seem to roam uneyed;
Are led or driven only where
They best and safest may abide.

4 They neither know nor trace the way;
But whilst they trust Thy guardian eye,
Their feet shall ne'er to ruin stray,
Nor shall the weakest fail or die.